Familiar Strangers
by AlwaystheCatLady
Summary: After a run of the mill Order of Phoenix meeting, strangers break through Hogwarts's wards. In the middle of a war it's easy to believe they are dangerous, but what they find is much more curious. What will James do when faced with his injured future son and his best friend who looks like he's been through hell?
1. Chapter 1

"Does anybody else have anything to add?" Albus Dumbledore asked the room as a whole.

James Potter looked around at the others sitting around the long table with him. No one made a move to talk. They were in one of the unused rooms at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for their latest meeting with the Order of the Phoenix. It was a relatively small group who met as one every month to check in and review what has been going on in the war and with everyone's missions. They used to just meet at one of the members houses until a few months ago when they were attacked multiple times. After that, suspicion ran rapid among the group. Whispers of a traitor spread, and it was decided Hogwarts would be the safest place to meet from then on. However, meetings were not the same. They were quieter, had less laughter, and more tension.

Dumbledore sighed and continued to speak, "Then, this meeting has come to its conclusion. I will get in touch with each of you soon."

That was another change. Most missions were done privately now with information on a tight lockdown even from other members. The rest just got the outcome information. _This might be another cause of the escalating tension and suspicion._ James sighed. _But what else can we do?_

Chairs scraped against the stone floor, and there was a general rush to get out the door. Yet another change. Usually there was a lunch or some sort of small talk after, but now, no one wanted to linger or mingle.

"Leaving without us, Peter?" Sirius asked. James looked around, saw Peter putting on his jacket, and frowned. His old friend wasn't looking too good. He was paler than normal, and was starting to lose weight.

"I promised my mom I would visit her today," Peter said. James grimaced. Peter's mom had been sick for a while now. James personally didn't think Mrs. Pettigrew would last much longer.

"Give her our well wishes won't you Peter," Lily, James's wife, said. Peter agreed and bid them all a farewell.

James looked around then and saw that he, Lily, Sirius, Remus, and Dumbledore were the only ones left.

"How is young Harry?" Dumbledore asked.

"He just learned to sit up by himself so any day he will be on the train here, sir," Sirius grinned.

"Is that so? I would only hope these old walls will be ready for another Potter," Dumbledore chuckled.

"I don't know if you need to worry about that, sir," James laughed. "He just might end up being more like Lily. The kid likes books."

"I read to him every night. He can never get enough," Lily smiled.

"Ah, that's always good to hear. Well, I won't keep you here any longer. I am sure you are anxious to go get him," Dumbledore said getting up. He walked with them through the stone halls. Faint voices could be heard behind a few of the closed doors indicating that class was in session.

"Shouldn't finals be coming up, Professor?" Remus asked.

"Yes as a matter of –" Dumbledore stopped completely. His head turned and he stared blankly at the wall.

"Professor?" Sirius asked.

"Are you –" James started to ask but stopped when Dumbledore started walking again only this time, faster.

"Someone breached the wards," Dumbledore said quickly.

"What? Who?" Lily asked. "Not –"

"I don't know. They are by the Quidditch pitch," Dumbledore said.

"How –" James started to ask, but thought better of it. The five of them power walked out of the castle. They didn't want to alarm anyone who might have been wandering the halls, but as soon as they hit the grass, the group began to run.

They reached the pitch in record time, but stopped when they spotted the intruders. There were two people: a man and a teen. The man had long, matted black hair and was dressed in tattered, dirty robes. He was kneeling over the teen that lay on the ground next to him. The child was small and pale and looked to be hurt. His leg was at an awkward angle and blood was pooling underneath his arm.

The man looked up, and quickly got to his feet while pulling out his wand. James lifted his wand again. He had lowered it when he saw the hurt boy. He saw Sirius, Lily, and Remus do the same. Dumbledore, however, did not have his wand out at all.

"What is going on?" The man asked in rough voice. James looked at Sirius and saw he was confused as well. _What did he mean?_

"That is what we want to know as well," Dumbledore said. He was obviously trying to sooth the upset man, but it seemed to make him even more freaked out.

"What kind of trick is this?" He said, weaving his wand between their bodies. He looked like he was trying to figure out who to curse, but a moan from the teen distracted him. The boy started shaking and the man kneeled again, brushing his fingers through the boy's messy black hair.

"Are you okay?" he asked urgently. "Stupid question of course you aren't." His panic was obviously growing. His own hands started shaking, but he continued to run his fingers through the black locks trying to bring some form of comfort the injured teen.

"We should get him to the hospital wing," James said. The strange man's head snapped up and stared at James with clear gray eyes. James blinked. He looked just like—

"Good idea, Mr. Potter. We can talk once the boy is properly taken care of," Dumbledore said.

"Wait a minute," the man boomed, wand raising when they went forward to help. "How do I know you aren't Death Eaters?"

"How do we know _you_ aren't a Death Eater?" Sirius shot back, raising his own wand. They were back to their standoff.

"Roll . . ." the teen started to speak up, and then paused to cough. He had the soft voice of a boy not yet gone through puberty. "Roll up sleeves."

"Why?" Remus asked.

"He brands the Death Eaters on their arms," He said, clearer this time. He had stopped shaking.

The group of five all exchanged looks. They didn't know that. How did the boy know that?

"How do you know that Harry?" the man asked. _Harry?_

"Saw it," he answered. The man looked stricken. James thought that they all must look like him in that moment. Just what had this kid seen?

They wanted to find out so they all rolled up their sleeves, the man and teen included. They were all clear. James saw Remus look closely at Sirius's arm, and Sirius at Remus's arms, and looked relieved when nothing was revealed. James felt the same. Both of them had their own suspicions and it had been slowly tearing the Marauders apart the last few months.

James turned to look at the man and boy in a new light. If they had already fixed their ruptured friendships, then they must be good, right? And they didn't have a mark.

Dumbledore conjured a stretcher, and the stranger lifted the boy onto it. They walked to the infirmary in a strange silence each person was entranced in their individual thoughts. James himself was focused on the newcomers.

 _How had they got through the wards?_ They obviously were together, but something about that was off as well. The man was dirty and thin, but had no obvious injuries. The boy, however, was heavily injured. James would have pointed to the man as the culprit, but the boy would have doubtless spoken up if it was so. If anything, he seemed to trust the man, and the man, in return, was shocked and appalled at the state of the boy.

When the group got to the infirmary, Madame Pomfrey immediately shooed the non-injured parties out. The stranger tried to protest, but eventually the healer got her way. Standing out in the hall, James watched as the man watched the closed infirmary doors helplessly.

"Excuse me, Mr . . ." Dumbledore said softly. The man spun around, apparently forgetting the rest of them were there. "Would you care to join me in my office for a small chat?"

"No," he said, shaking his head. "I would not care for a chat. I'm not leaving my godson alone."

 _Godson, huh?_ James looked at Sirius. He shrugged, and looked to Dumbledore.

"I understand that, but it is urgent that we talk about how you ended up on our grounds," Dumbledore insisted. "Some of my friends can stay here so he is not alone."

Lily and Remus nodded. The man stared at each of us in turn before sighing and agreeing.

Dumbledore smiled. "And you two will join us as well."

James and Sirius nodded even though it wasn't a question. They followed Dumbledore and the still nameless man through the halls and up the stairs until, eventually, they found themselves in Dumbledore's oval office.

"Have a seat," Dumbledore said waving his wand. Stuffed armchairs appeared and set themselves neatly in a semi-circle in front of his desk. He sat down beside it, and the other three men followed his lead.

"I think the first question that needs to be asked is how did you get beyond the wards?" Dumbledore asked.

"I . . . I don't really know how we got here," the man answered quietly.

"I see Mr?" Dumbledore paused. "I'm sorry I didn't catch your name."

"Well, you see, it is complicated," the man said.

James and Sirius were shifting in their seats, uncomfortable with the man's non-answers. He frowned at the both of them, and they frowned right back at him.

"What is the date?" he asked.

"The twenty-first," the headmaster answered.

"No, I mean, what year?"

"1980."

James and Sirius look at each other wondering what on earth was going on as the man seemed to slump down in his seat, shaking his head side to side. Dumbledore folded his hands out in front of him, and rest his chin on them. He never looked away from the man, or betrayed any emotion he might have been feeling.

"And what year did you think it was?" he asked.

"1994," he breathed out, closing his eyes.

Silence.

 _What in the world?_ James looked more closely at the newcomer. He had had the thought before, but now . . . .

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Sirius Black."

Sirius, the proper Sirius, started shaking _his_ head back and forth.

"No," he said. "You aren't me. You aren't . . . ."

"Why don't you tell us how you came to be here," Dumbledore said.

"Headmaster! You can't believe this nonsense," Sirius pleaded.

"Time travel has been around for awhile now, Sirius, and I do see similarities between the two of you," he said.

Truthfully, so did James. The man, _Black I guess_ , was a little more disheveled with tangled hair and worn robes. He was thinner too with a serious face, lined around the eyes. It didn't put him at ease. They were in the middle of a war, and it looked like it didn't go that well. _And he is steadily ignoring me._

I shook my head as Sirius opened his mouth to argue some more. He closed his mouth. He sat back, frowning, and studying Black who still hadn't looked away from the headmaster.

"Now, will you tell us what happened?" Dumbledore asked again.

"I don't really know what happened. My godson –"

"Wait a minute . . . godson?" James sat up, suddenly. Sirius also became more alert. "Are you talking about Harry? My Harry?"

". . . Yes," Black said looking down at his lap.

"What –"

"James, please, let Mr. Black tell his story. I am sure all your questions will be answered quicker that way," Dumbledore interrupted.

James sat back, frowning once again. The scene out on the Quidditch pitch flashed in his mind. Harry lay there, bleeding and twitching. _What happened to my son?_

Black sighed. "He was doing the third task for the Triwizard Tournament. I don't know what happened. It was a maze, and nobody could really see what was going on. He was one of the last two in there, and I don't know, they both must have got to the trophy at the same time."

James' head was spinning. _Triwizard Tournament? He was so small! But he won?_

"But the trophy was a portkey. I don't know where he went. . . . He was gone for hours. He came back . . . . The other boy was dead. I grabbed Harry, but before I could do anything else, say anything even, we were gone. It was, surreal. Everything was spinning. People were moving backward. Then, we were here. Harry, he said that we had gone back in time. That we had to be careful. I was trying to check him over. He was, well, you all saw him. You guys came, and here we are," he finished, finally looking up.

His eyes had a suspicious sheen to them, but his voice was still strong. James began to feel a warm feeling in his chest, spreading out to all of his limbs. He knew he had chosen the right godfather for his child. But this situation was still unbelievable. James had so many questions he was bursting to ask, but he couldn't help accepting his story.

"Neither of you were touching anything when you disappeared? No one aimed any spell at you?" Dumbledore asked. His face was grimly set.

Black shook his head. "Harry could fill in the blanks more than I could. I was just the first person to reach him after he came back."

"Yes, let us go. I am sure Madame Pomfery has him all healed up by now," Dumbledore said.

As the group of four walked through the halls, James and Sirius hung back a little.

"Do you believe any of this?" Sirius whispered.

"Kind of? I mean, it is kind of hard not to," James answered just as quietly.

Sirius bit his lip, looking ahead at the future version of himself. "But that would mean I end up like that."

"We can quiz them. Ask them only stuff we would know. But I think Dumbledore believes him," James said, feeling sympathetic. He knew that Sirius was referring to how gaunt Black was. It was obvious he had been through the ringer.

"Yeah," Sirius sighed. "But this future does not seem like how we wanted things to turn out. I look like a vampire, and Harry gets kidnapped from the fucking Triwizard Tournament."

"I know," now it was James' turn to sigh. "I'm trying to think of way to tell Lily without her freaking out too much."

"Good luck with that, mate," Sirius grimaced, patting James on the back.

Luckily for James, when the two caught up with Dumbledore and Black the former was already busy explaining the situation to Lily and Remus. They looked equally amazed, skeptical, and horrified.

"James," Lily turned to him. "Do you –"

"I'm going in to check on my godson," Black said abruptly, obviously impatient with waiting.

"I'll go with you," Dumbledore said, following him in. The group of four watched as they pulled opened the heavy double doors, and went inside.

"We can talk about all this later," James decided. "I think it is really important that we are in there now."

The rest of the group agreed with him. They walked in. Dumbledore stood at the foot of one of the beds at the very end. Black sat on the bed with an arm around the young boy. Madame Pomfrey was hovering, but went away after a quiet word with the headmaster.

"Stay rested now or I will come back and kick everyone out," she warned them before disappearing into her office.

"Harry," Dumbledore said gently. "Can you tell me what happened?"

"I thought it was bad to reveal the future to the past. It can have terrible consequences," he said. His voice was quiet.

James studied what would be his future son. He definitely looked like James with the same messy hair and overall face structure. He still had Lily's eyes though he did end up needing glasses like his old man. He was too thin for his liking, and had an entirely too serious expression on his face for a fourteen year old.

"That is true. However, given the current circumstances it would be best for you to, ah, bend the rules a bit," Dumbledore said.

Harry stared at him silently for a minute seemingly trying to look for something. Apparently he found whatever it was because he nodded, dropping his gaze. He appeared to gather his thoughts. They waited.

"We grabbed the trophy, Cedric and I. It turned out to be a portkey. At first, we thought it was just another part of the task," his lips quirked up. He shook his head. "This man came," here he did a quick glance at Black. He tensed up. "He killed Cedric." Lily gasped quietly. James took a hold of her hand. "Tied me to a grave. He did this ritual, and brought Him back. He –"

"Excuse me, Harry. By Him you mean . . ."

"Voldemort."

"Ah, continue, please," Dumbledore said glancing at the four standing at his side. Sirius shut his mouth as did James.

"He summoned his followers, talked for a bit, and then he wanted to duel. So, he untied me, gave me my wand back. We tossed around a few curses then something weird happened . . . well, anyway, it gave me a chance to run. I grabbed Cedric's body, got the cup, but just before we left one last curse got through. We got back to Hogwarts, but before I could explain anything we were shipped off here," he finished, staring at his hands for a bit before looking back up to the headmaster.

So many questions were going through James' head. So much detail had been left out of that account, and he just wanted to know what really happened and to comfort his baby boy. It was an odd feeling. His baby boy just learned to crawl, and this baby boy was running, dueling, and almost dying at the hands of Lord Voldemort.

"You didn't hear the spell that hit you?" Dumbledore asked quietly.

"No, sir. Sorry, sir," he said.

"And one last question before I leave you to rest," he paused. "How did you know that you had traveled back in time?"

"Because I've done it before," he answered quietly. "But it was only a couple hours. And with a time turner."

"Yes, that is the usual way," Dumbledore said. "Well, we will leave you to rest. I trust Mr. Black would like to stay with you?"

Harry turned his big eyes to look at Black, silently begging for that to happen. It made James' heart clench. Black nodded. Harry looked relieved. He fell back against the pillows, drained.

"Would you four like to come with me?" Dumbledore asked the others from their proper time.

They agreed, and with brief awkward goodbyes, they left the hospital wing. They didn't talk on the way up. A couple of the students were roaming about. They didn't want what happened to get out.

James sat down in the chair he had just evacuated. Lily sat in the chair next to him, and immediately grabbed his hand. He rubbed his thumb across her hand as he watched Dumbledore stand in front of his tall oak bookcase. The rest of his friends did the same.

Dumbledore pulled out a couple of ancient books. He walked around and sat behind his oak desk.

"Why didn't you ask him more questions?" Sirius burst out as Dumbledore started opening the top book of the small stack.

"What else would you have liked me to ask him, Sirius?" Dumbledore asked.

"Hmm, let's see, maybe some confirmation that he is who he says he is. Maybe, ask about how he said Voldemort came back? Or how about –" Dumbledore raised a hand signifying he wanted silence.

"I get what you are saying, and if you feel the need to ask more questions you can feel free too. Though, Harry was right. Sharing information about the future can be very dangerous, so please, be careful if you do. I must also ask you to at least wait until tomorrow to question him anymore. He needs his rest," Dumbledore waited until Sirius nodded his head in understanding before he continued on. "All of you may use my fireplace to floo to your homes. If you decide not to come back tomorrow, I will owl you to let you know what becomes of this situation."

"We'll be here tomorrow," James said firmly. He did not want to wipe his hands of his son which he knew Dumbledore was giving them all permission to do. He was relieved to see his friends and wife nod in agreement along with him.

"Have a goodnight," he said, beaming proudly at them all.

A couple goodbyes and floo destinations later, James was sitting around his parent's table holding his young son in his lap while he helped his friends and wife explain what happened to his parents.

Fleamont Potter was a tall man with styled graying hair, and dark brown eyes that had laugh lines etched in around them. He was a retired Auror whose normally happy-go-lucky countenance was twisted with serious worry.

Clutching the hand of this man was Euphemia Potter, a slim, tall woman with dyed black hair and hazel eyes. She was the embodiment of an elder pureblood lady, classy and elegant. Right now, her forehead was wrinkled and her painted lips turned down in a frown as she listened to her son and his wife and friends explain what had recently gone on.

"Dumbledore is letting us decide whether we want to continue to be involved in this situation. He said we could come back tomorrow to see him or he would owl us to let us know what happens to the two," Remus ended the story that they all took turns telling.

James frowned down at his son in the following silence. Harry was propped up against his chest even though he could sit fine without the support. He was wide awake gazing around happily at everyone. It was unusual that he wasn't babbling or trying to get put down so he could go off exploring, but James guessed that he noticed that he got picked up late today, and had missed everyone.

He put his hand through his son's thick mop of hair as he looked at everyone else sitting around the table. Sirius looked in serious need of a bottle of firewhiskey, but James knew he would wait to get home before drinking. He wouldn't do it in front of James' parents or in front of Harry. Remus had his hands clasped together on top of the table, and was gazing at them intently, deep in thought. His parents sat close together, handing hands. They were still processing all the information handed to them. Lily was sitting close to James looking exhausted from the long day they had. She was watching Harry intently like he had been moments ago. Feeling his gaze on her, she raised her eyes to look at him, and smiled weakly. He could see the worry she was trying not to feel.

"Are we going back or forgetting all this happened?" she asked quietly but everyone at the table heard her.

"I can't forget this. I wish I could," Sirius laughed. "But I wouldn't be able too."

"I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to be around," Remus said standing up. "Not my choice, but I have a mission I need to get going to."

James almost forgot about that. Remus had been disappearing on missions for a long time now. It was what caused Sirius to think he was a spy in the first place.

"You have to go again now?" Lily asked.

"I need to get prepared," Remus nodded. "Dumbledore wanted me to have a little break, but things are getting dire and it is important I don't leave for too long."

James frowned at that wondering what exactly it was that Remus had to do. He wanted to ask. This was the most he talked about it, but something told him Remus wouldn't answer. So instead, he joined in with the goodbyes letting go of Harry for a bit so Remus could kiss and hug him, and then he was gone.

"What about you James? Lily? Are you going to go back?" his mom asked this quietly once they were all settled again.

"Of course," James said. Beside him Lily nodded her agreement.

"He is our son. It is a weird situation, but he has been through something horrific. We need to push past that and give him the support he needs," Lily explained.

Fleamont and Euphemia nodded to show their understanding. They exchanged a look between themselves and seemingly came to another one with talking at all.

"We would love to be there as well," Fleamont said.

"Not at first," Euphemia said. "That would be a little overwhelming for them, I bet. But in a couple days we would like to take a visit."

James stared at his parents in surprise, but then found he really shouldn't be. It would have been a surprise if they didn't want to see their grandson from the future. They were still very involved with James' life, and as a result, Lily's and Harry's lives too.

"We should get going. It's Harry's bedtime," Lily said, standing up. "We'll see you tomorrow."

After hugging his parents, James spoke to Sirius before he could leave through the fireplace.

"You know, you could spend the night with us tonight," James offered.

"I could put Harry to sleep and you and James can drink and talk about today," Lily said.

James grinned at his wife, affection for her once again swelling up in his chest. Sirius smiled but shook his head.

"No, not today." He grabbed the floo powder from the mantle and placed one last kiss on Harry's forehead. "I'll see you tomorrow. The White Sheep's Padhouse." And with a swoosh of green fire, he was gone.

"You think he'll be okay?" Lily asked.

"I hope so," James said. "But I doubt it."


	2. Chapter 2

James was exhausted. It was his turn to take over night duties for Harry, and it was one of his worst nights in a while. Besides a couple feedings and one diaper change, it seemed like Harry just wanted to be held. A part of James wondered if it had anything to do with what happened the previous day, but he shook that thought out his mind quickly. It wasn't an unusual for this to happen. It was simply the timing that made James think of it.

He sighed and looked down at his mini me that he held securely in his arms. Harry's green eyes were locked on his face even as he drained the bottle James was holding to his mouth.

"We are gonna leave you again today with your grandparents, buddy. You have to be good for them, yeah?"

Harry blinked.

"Yeah, yeah, I know how can I say such a thing being a Marauder. It's very simple Hare-Bear, I'm a hypocrite. Do as I say, not as I do and all that. You understand?"

Harry let go of the now empty bottle, and James lifted him up and burped him easily.

"Yes, I knew you would," James said, laying him back into the crook of his arm. He turned towards the door of the nursery only to find his beautiful wife leaning against the doorway.

"Been there long?" he asked, crossing the room quickly to get a morning kiss.

"Long enough to hear you turn traitor on troublemakers everywhere," Lily said, stealing the baby into her own arms and leading the way downstairs.

"Hey! You should be proud about how responsible I turned out to be."

Lily laughed, and a familiar bark of laughter joined in as they entered their kitchen.

"James, responsible?" Sirius laughed, sitting in his usual seat at their round dining table. "And I'm a muggle."

James fake scowled at his brother in all but blood, but secretly he was rather pleased Sirius was up and joking around. When tending to Harry last night, his mind wandered equally to the new people residing in Hogwarts and to Sirius.

Lily set Harry into his swing, and they dug into the meal she made. Pancakes and bacon and eggs lay across the table. As James loaded up his plate, he made note of the purple bags under Sirius's eyes even as he listened intently as him and Lily discussed the news.

"There was a raid in St. Albans last night," Lily was saying. "Fifty muggles dead and two aurors that responded to the scene."

"The ministry is offering free warding consultations for anyone who needs it," Sirius said. "I guess the declining population finally made them think with more than their pockets."

"That does nothing to protect the muggles like in St. Albans though," Lily said, sadly.

"Or help families that can't afford the actual warding work," James said.

"When did the ministry get so useless?" Sirius asked, stabbing into his eggs.

Neither James nor Lily answered. James privately thought the ministry had always been this way. He had grown up with his parent's complaints about the corruption that was slowly spreading through their government. However, he knew Sirius hadn't considered it that way before. With being a rebellious teenager from a dark family, he had a shiny view of the government that he thought would disapprove of his family's leanings. He was still adjusting to the reality that hit him once he graduated and actually started paying attention to the news.

The three finished up their meals with the silence only broken by Harry's babbling. As they were cleaning up, Harry started to cry.

"That'll probably be a nappy change," Lily said as she directed her wand to make the dishes wash themselves.

"I got it," James said, scooping his baby up in his arms.

After getting himself and his son ready, he quickly dropped him off at his parents, and then James, Sirius, and Lily floo into Dumbledore's office.

The Headmaster was sitting at his desk, reading through a large tome intently. When he heard them enter, he marked his place and closed the book.

"Ah, good morning," he said with a smile. "I see you decided to get to know our guests."

"Are you looking into time travel?" Lily asked, leaning forward slightly trying to read the title of the book on his desk.

James smiled. That was his wife. Always so curious, she would forget her manners in her pursuit of knowledge.

"Hm," Dumbledore nodded as he got up. "I'm afraid there isn't much. It's not something any has looked into that much. They've been too afraid of the consequences."

"Well if they mess up can't they just go back and fix their mistake?" Sirius asked as they all walked through the corridors.

"But what if that messes things up further? What if it rips the fabric of the universe with too much traveling? There are many questions like that that can't be answered, and no one wants to be the one to find them," Dumbledore said.

"But also the ministry won't let them," James said. "It's illegal."

"H-Harry said he did it before though," Lily said.

"Yes, that is something we should question him on today," he said, opening up the doors of the hospital wing.

As James stepped into the sterile room, his eyes immediately went to his future son and friend. Harry was sitting, propped up against his pillows. Sirius was sitting in an armchair, his back to them. Harry's head snapped up as their group walked towards his bed, and Sirius spun around tensing as they both watched each of them.

James paused for only a second as his son's intense green eyes found his own hazel ones. The almost greedy way his eyes were taking in his face filled James with a bad feeling. It was almost as if he had never seen his own father before, but that was ridiculous. He probably needed the comfort of his father and mother, James thought firmly to himself as Harry's eyes left him and turned toward Lily. Them from the future wasn't there, and he was missing them, needing their comfort. That must be it. James tried to ignore the pit in his stomach, and sat in one the chairs Dumbledore conjured up.

"I hope you had a restful night," Dumbledore said, smoothing his purple and silver robes out.

Sirius, the time traveling one (James made a mental note to stick to calling him Black or this will start to get even more confusing than it already was), snorted, but other than that him nor Harry made any other attempt at conversation. From the corner of his eye, James could see his Sirius shifting in his seat, but he didn't utter a word. Unusual, but everything about this was. Lily grabbed James's hand, and he relaxed a little.

"Yesterday you mentioned using a time turner before," Dumbledore said.

Harry nodded.

"Can you tell me all your knowledge about time travel?" he asked, undeterred by the boy's silence. "I need to know as much as I can. In this time there isn't much research into it."

The teenager shifted a little, glancing at Black briefly before answering. "I'm not sure how much I can tell you. I didn't really know what I was doing to be honest."

James's lips quirked up, and he heard Sirius stifle a bit of laughter. Black looked sharply at him, and James realized with a jolt, it was the first time he had looked at any of them. He couldn't tell anything from his face though when Black looked away, James noticed a ticking in his jaw.

"Anything you can would be helpful," Dumbledore said.

"Um, well, it was my friend's, Hermione's, time turner. She was taking a lot of classes, and got permission from the ministry to use it for her studies," Harry said.

James raised an eyebrow, and couldn't help but wonder at his son's life. Every aspect of it was a little ridiculous including the friends he had. He smiled. He couldn't help but feel proud at that.

"We went back for three hours. Er . . . we had to hide from our past selves because apparently bad things would happen if we did." Harry's eyes glanced between both Sirius's. "And, um, we had to be back in the same place that we left at the same time." He shrugged his thin shoulders. "That's it really. Nothing bad happened."

"Did you successfully change time?" Lily asked, leaning forward.

Harry jumped, and looked at Lily, his countenance paling. Lily squeezed James's hand. Tight. The smile dropped from James's face. The dread in his stomach came back even as confusion drew down his eyebrows. Black leaned forward and placed a hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry blinked and moved away. Was that tears in his eyes?

"Yeah, we did," he whispered.

"And nothing bad happened?" Dumbledore asked.

Harry shook his head.

"What's this got to do anything about what happened to us?" Black spoke up gruffly.

The Sirius beside James jumped slightly as did Lily. It was as if they had forgotten about the other time traveler. _Or they were trying to._ James watched as Sirius looked quickly at the floor then Harry then out the window as Black continued talking in his scratchy voice. So different from the Sirius from this time.

"Harry was hit with a spell. No time turners were involved at all," Black continued. "Even in the future time travel isn't regularly done. I've never heard of such a spell, but I can't tell you for sure. It's not like they would ever make such a thing common knowledge."

Dumbledore nodded his head, looking deep in thought.

"So you don't have any ideas on how to send us back?" Black asked.

"I'm afraid not, my boy."

Black hit his chair with his fist. "And what are we going to do until we figure it out? What happens if you never do?"

"Don't be hasty," Dumbledore said, calmly.

"Don't be hasty?" Black raised his voice as he shot up out of his chair. The chair fell backward and clattered loudly as it hit the floor. "Easy for you to say! You aren't the one years in the past with your -"

"Sirius!" Harry shouted. "Shut up!"

Harry turned his intense green eyes stared down at his now silent godfather before turning back to the headmaster. "Thank you but I think you should all leave now. We can decide what to do tomorrow."

"What's going on out here?" Madam Pomphrey asked as she strode out of her office. "This is a room for healing."

"My apologies, my dear, but we are taking our leave"

James stood with him watching as Black righted his chair and sat back in it. He buried his face in his hands. His shoulders were shaking minutely.

Madam Pomphrey started fussing over Harry even as Dumbledore waved his wand to get rid of the chairs. Harry was quietly answering the healer's questions. Lily looked like she was on the verge of tears while Sirius was staring at Black with a hard to read expression on his face. James felt like he knew how he was feeling though. The dread in his stomach felt like lead. The feeling that something was wrong was too strong to ignore now. If everything was alright in the future, there was no way Black should be reacting like that. Right?

James followed the others back to Dumbledore's office in silence. He tried to match up any reason for Black to react like that that didn't involve something bad happening to them. But he couldn't convince himself of it. It wasn't adding up.

Lily was up ahead with Dumbledore chatting quietly. Sirius was hanging back, brooding by the set of his jaw. James slowed his pace so he was in line with Sirius and waited. In no time at all, Sirius started speaking.

"I don't think you or Lily make it, Prongs," he said.

"I know," James said.

There's no point in denying what you already know deep in your heart. That only made it so you can't do anything about the situation. If they had done that when they suspected Remus of being a werewolf, they wouldn't have become Animagus's. Who knows, they might not have kept being friends with Remus at all. And where would they be then? James didn't want to imagine that.

"What are we going to do?" Sirius asked, clutching James's arm tightly.

James kept quiet, looking up ahead to where Dumbledore was opening the passageway to his office. He wouldn't like this. But that's never stopped the Marauders before.

"We are going to take a leaf out of Harry's book. We have to change time."


End file.
